A Lehigh County Court judge won't require Lower Macungie Township officials to change the zoning on a 16-acre property along Brookside Road.

In his decision, Judge Thomas A. Wallitsch advised Dr. Edward Weiner to go back to the township's Zoning Hearing Board for a variance lifting the current zoning, which denies him reasonable use of his land.

Weiner, whose request for rezoning was rejected last March, claimed the supervisors exhibited bias and that their refusal to rezone was unreasonable and arbitrary.

Wallitsch, who noted an apparent animosity between Weiner and township officials, said he didn't believe there was any valid reason why the supervisors should not decide the zoning issue.

"Although the supervisors have been engaged in years of controversy with the Weiners over this property, we cannot find, on the record before us, sufficient cause for the very drastic measure of requiring removal of the elected officials," Wallitsch wrote in his May 24 order.

The judge also noted Weiner's claim that the township's refusal to rezone was unreasonable and irrational. "While we may agree with the substance of the Weiners' argument, we cannot order the township to rezone the tract as requested," he said.

The property, at the southwest corner of Brookside and Lower Macungie roads, has been the source of two court battles since 1986.

The current zoning permits a variety of residential development. Weiner has requested a change that would allow commercial and office development although he hasn't disclosed specific plans for the site.

Weiner's lawyer, Maxwell Davison, argued that neighboring commercial development and the existence of two sets of transmission lines make it an undesirable spot for new housing. The judge didn't dispute that.

"Uncontradicted expert testimony concluded that this tract was no longer suitable for such residential development, rendering it virtually useless as presently zoned," Wallitsch wrote.

In his appeal, Weiner also claimed that Supervisor Robert Lee had a conflict of interest and should not have participated in the decision-making. The judge disagreed.